


I Need to Go Home

by didnotthinkitwouldcometothis



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Angst, Character Death, Dementia, M/M, Old Age, but it's like happened already
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-01
Updated: 2015-06-01
Packaged: 2018-04-02 09:11:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 871
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4054498
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/didnotthinkitwouldcometothis/pseuds/didnotthinkitwouldcometothis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dan wants to go home for Phil (set in the far far future where Dan is an old man living in a care home)</p>
            </blockquote>





	I Need to Go Home

**Author's Note:**

> Beta-ed by theinvisiblephan.tumblr.com! First sad fic I ever wrote! :D

It was a normal day for 86 year old Dan. He was visiting a place he and his husband Phil went to every now and then. Judging by the fact that Phil wasn’t there by his side Dan figured that he must have stayed at home this time. They didn’t spend much time apart, never had actually, but that was just how they were. They never got bored of each other and still enjoyed the other’s company. It had always been like that.

 

He saw a few nurses (he guessed by how they were dressed) chatting behind the counter and decided to ask them if they had seen his Phil or if he really had in fact stayed at home this time.

 

He turned his walker towards the nurses and started heading there. Walking wasn’t as easy as it used to be and he needed a walker to help but otherwise he thought he was in pretty good health. He was glad that his head was still working, he thought while he walked past an old lady in a wheelchair talking to herself about something Dan didn’t quite catch. His memory was still in good shape too. Sure, some small details slipped from his mind every now and then but mostly he remembered things really well.

“Excuse me,” he said as he reached the nurses. “Good morning.”

 

“Good afternoon Daniel,” one nurse corrected and smiled politely.

 

“Oh, the time really flies. Is it really afternoon already?” Dan asked a little surprised. He didn’t realise that it was so late already. It felt like he had just arrived at this place.

 

“Yes it is. We are eating dinner soon so you can take a seat at the table,” the nurse told Dan.

 

“Well in that case I need to find my husband. Have you by any means seen him? His name is Phil and I’m pretty sure he came here with me.” Dan tried asking the nurse in case she had seen Phil.

 

“Phil is not here Dan,” was the answer he was given.

 

Well in that case Phil must have stayed at home today, Dan thought.

“I need to go home with him then,” Dan told the nurses. “Could you lend me a phone so I can call him and tell him that I’m coming, and then call a cab to take me home? I’d walk but I’m not entirely sure how long it takes to walk home from here and I’ve apparently forgotten my phone,” Dan asked politely.

 

The nurse who answered Dan wore a sympathetic smile as she spoke. “ We don’t have a phone right now but don’t worry about Phil, I know he knows you’re here. Stay for dinner Daniel, after that we can find you a phone to use.

 

"Oh, okay then,” Dan said. He started slowly walking towards the table and sat down. He could stay for a dinner, right? Phil knew he was here and it would be rude to refuse. He missed Phil though. And they had only been apart for a few hours, if that. Well, soon he would see Phil again and that thought made him smile.

 

–

 

Back at the desk the nurses were watching as Dan slowly made his way to the table and parked his walker next to his seat.

 

“Does Daniel’s husband visit him often?” a young medical student asked the other two nurses. He had his first day of training today and he was only just starting to learn about the people who, like Daniel, lived in this care home.

 

“Unfortunately Philip has been dead for almost three years now,” an older nurse told him. “He used to have a joint room with Daniel before his illness got worse and he was transferred to a hospital where he later died.”

 

“Daniel has really bad dementia and even though he was at Philip’s funeral and their kids sometimes take Daniel to visit the grave he always forgets it soon after. He doesn’t even remember living here, as you probably noticed. He thinks that he is just visiting. By the time dinner has been eaten he won’t even remember that he was planning to make a phone call.” The other nurse continued with a sad smile. “You’ll hear Daniel asking several times a day if anyone has seen his husband and if he could go home.”

 

“That’s so sad,” the student commented. “Why don’t you tell him the truth when he asks?”

 

“There’s really no use in upsetting him when he will ask the same thing again soon. He’s happier thinking he’ll see his husband soon,” the older nurse explained. “Besides, he’s getting weaker quite quickly. Just last week he was able to walk really well without his walker. Perhaps it won’t take long before he will meet his husband again, if you know what I mean…”

They all turned to look at Dan sitting alone at the table, looking at a photo of himself and his husband on their wedding day. He always kept that picture with him. Wherever he went, he made sure he had the picture in his pocket.

 

“He must have really loved his husband,” the student thought aloud.

 

“He still does,” the older nurse answered.


End file.
